R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Fatehgarh Sahib|
Snakebite claims life:A Nepalese labourer died of snakebite while at work in a mill located in Malkomajra village here on Friday. The victim identified as Brahmdev was a resident of Nargo village in Nepal. His brother Jasmir said the victim was bitten when he was on duty late Thursday night. A doctor in the emergency ward said preliminary investigations showed the victim had died of snakebite.

Nawanshahr
Legal literacy fair held:District unit of Punjab State Legal Services Authority, Punjab, organised a "Legal Literacy Youth Mela" here at a private college on Saturday. Deputy Commissioner Tanu M Kashayap inaugurated the mela and District and Sessions Judge Gurcharan Singh Sra presided. Sra said as many as 12 legal aid clinics had been set up and 200 para legal volunteers had been appointed to help the under privileged get justice.

Girl dies of dengue:Five-and-a-half-year-old girl Falak, resident of Prem Nagar in Ludhiana, reportedly died of dengue on Saturday. She was being treated at Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana. The District Health Department is yet to receive confirmation regarding the cause of her death. Dr. Ashwani Dhir, senior BJP leader, mooted the idea of bringing the city's municipal corporation (MC) under the purview of the Right to Service Act, so MC officials could be held accountable.

nangal
11 held for pilfering LPG:The district police on Saturday seized hundreds of underweight LPG cylinders. Eleven employees of various gas agencies were arrested. SHO Kesar Singh said on a tip-off, four vehicles loaded with nearly 350 LPG cylinders were intercepted. Two instruments used in pilfering gas were found from these vehicles, he said, adding a team of the Food and Supply Department was called to weigh the cylinders. Most of the cylinders were found short of gas between 200 grams to 2.5 kg, he said. Food and Supply Inspector Mandip Singh said action would be taken against the erring LPG dealers.

Ludhiana
Programme: A programme was organised in memory of a senior scribe from the city, Amrita Chowdhary, who lost her life in a car accident recently. The event was held at Guru Nanak Bhavan ton Saturday. People from different walks of life, including Surjit Patar and Harish Rai Dhanda, were also present on the occasion. Their achievements were enlisted during the programme.

Ropar
Youth dies in road mishap:A 23-year-old youth died in a road accident when he fell from his motorcycle and hit his head on the divider on Saturday. The deceased Sandip Sandhu was not wearing a helmet, said local Station House Officer (SHO) Manvir Bajwa. A truck hit Sandip's motorbike from the side. Sandip fell on the divider and died after suffering from a head injury, said the SHO. Police has booked the truck driver and sent the body for a postmortem, he added.

HARYANA

Chandigarh
Appointment of FDAs:With a view to ensure uninterrupted power supply, the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has decided to appoint two Feeder Distribution Associates (FDAs) in each operation circle as a pilot project. Haryana Power Distribution Corporations Chairman and Managing Director Devender Singh said the FDA would be assigned the responsibility of distribution of electricity and carrying out related activities in the associated area comprising two 11 KV feeders under a single scheme.

Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia inaugurates the drug de-addiction sammelan in Kurukshetra on Saturday. A Tribune photo

gurgaon
Security beefed up:After security threat issud in the NCR, Gurgaon has been put on alert for Divali. DCP (Crime) Maheshwar Dayal said, “We assure safe Divali to everybody as the Gurgaon police is all set to avert any unwanted incident. We appeal to residents not to be worried but cautious while enjoying the festive season. Security plan has been carved out but will not disclose it for security reasons.” 

Kaithal
Skater honoured:Deputy Commissioner (DC) Chander Shekhar on Saturday honoured Hardik Girdhar, a Class X student of OSDAV School, Kaithal. Hardik had won a gold medal in a skating ring race in the 47th Haryana Sports Competition held in Rohtak recently. The DC said Hardik had brought laurels to the district as well as set up a new record by winning 300 meter race in 34. 82 seconds.

Trainee officers in Kaithal: A group of 27 IAS, IPS and IFS officers undergoing training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, arrived here on Saturday. The trainee officers were briefed by Deputy Commissioner Chander Shekhar about the geographical location, historical importance and rich cultural heritage of the district. The officials were told about the importance of the area in the fields of agriculture, trade and commerce and about night halt camps in villages.

Kurukshetra
Drive against liquor launched: To make people aware about alcohol and its after effects on the human body, Governor Jaganath Pahadia has launched a campaign called “Drink Aware India” in the city. Prabhat Shoba, an activist, said the campaign was not meant to discourage people from drinking, but to create awareness about alcohol.

Man held with stolen bikes: The police has arrested a person with a stolen motorcycle. Ashwani, a resident of Didar Nagar in the town, was caught while selling a stolen motorcycle. The police has recovered two stolen motorcycles from his possession.

Sonepat
Residents protest:Residents of Kath Mandi on Saturday held a protest against the public health authorities for not desilting the sewer pipelines in the locality for the past two months. Protesters led by district press secretary of the INLD, Pawan Taneja alleged that the residents of the locality had been facing the sewer problems for the past more than two months.

 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Dharamsala
‘BJP-ruled states have outdone Centre’: Former Union Minister and BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday claimed that the BJP-ruled states had outperformed the Union Government as well as the Congress-ruled states. He claimed that most of the states ruled by the BJP, including Himachal, had a growth rate of 10 per cent while the growth of the country under the UPA government had dropped to 6 per cent.

Hamirpur
Cong misleading voters over induction cookers: CM: The Congress is trying to mislead people about the BJP’s promise to provide induction cookers, Chief Minister PK Dhumal told mediapersons here on Friday. “Congress leaders had earlier approached the Election Commission of India to stop BJP’s advertisements regarding cookers, and now they are spreading rumours of hazardous radiation emission from these cookers,” he said.

Corruption major focus for HLP:Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) spokesman Mahender Nath Sofat has claimed that the elections are being contested on the issue of “corruption by BJP leaders”, raised by the HLP. Talking to mediapersons here recently, Sofat said, “The Dhumal government is busy selling land to private universities, builders and outsiders in violation of Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act.” 

BJP MLA refutes Congress charge:Urmil Thakur, Hamirpur MLA and BJP candidate from Sujanpur, has refuted the charge of not carrying development in the Sujanpur area during her present term as an MLA. Talking to mediapersons here recently, she saidthe allegation was being made to malign her.

Mandi
BJP paralysed PDS in state: Sachin Pilot: Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Sachin Pilot has accused the BJP government of paralysing the public distribution system (PDS) in the state. He said this while addressing public meetings in support of Congress candidates Rangila Ram Rao at Gaunta and Sohan Lal Thakur at Dehar.

Nurpur
Eight held with illicit liquor:The Indora police arrested eight bootleggers and seized two working stills. A team, headed by DSP Rajinder Jaswal, conducted raids at Chhanni on Thursday. He said, 36 drums of country-made liquor were destroyed on the spot. The police also seized more than four lakh ml of illicit liquor during the raid.

Solan
BJP fails to use Central funds: Bhattal:Former Punjab Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal on Thursday said the state government had failed to use funds provided by the Congress-led UPA Government. Addressing a rally at Baddi in favour of Congress candidate Ramkumar Chowdhary, she alleged PK Dhumal-led BJP government was minting money by selling the state and depositing it in Jalandhar-based Swiss banks.

Ethyl alcohol cases seized:A team of flying squad led by Excise and Taxation Officer BR Sharma on Friday seized 150 cases of ethyl alcohol from a car, which was coming from Chandigarh, near the Rabon area, on Friday. Driver Pankush Sharma of Samba district in Jammu and Kashmir could not produce any documents pertaining to the alcohol. Prem Thakur, SP, Solan, said the vehicle had been booked by the Chamba-Shimla Transport Union at Chandigarh for Solan.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

srinagar
Mountaineering meet:The Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department held a three-day mountaineering meet in collaboration with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation in a bid to boost adventure tourism in the state. The seminar, which began on Friday in Srinagar, was organised with an aim to popularise the sport among the youth and promote adventure tourism in the Valley. The event saw active participation of 60 mountaineers across the country.

LPG crisis:The CPM has warned that the present gas crisis in Jammu and Kashmir could turn into a major law and order problem and appealed to the Central Government for a special concession on LPG cap. “The lack of coordination between the Central Government and the oil companies is responsible for the prevailing LPG crisis in the state. The dearth of distributors has compounded the crisis,” CPM state secretary Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said.

DEHRADUN

Almora
Kumaon Bhasha Sammelan:A three-day Kumaon Bhasha Sammelan began at Almora on Saturday. It emphasised on the need to protect the Kumaoni dialect by persuading a maximum number of youth to use it. “If a language disappears, it means an entire culture has finished. If we are not able to protect the Kumaoni dialect and literature, the new generation will be bereft of their roots,” said Hari Suman Bisht, secretary of the Hindi Academy, Delhi.

DEhradun
Mayor stages dharna:Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli on Saturday staged a dharna for two hours at the Shaeed Sthal here in protest against the state government’s decision to hold a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain. He said earlier, he had welcomed the move, but the way the government had spend a huge money on holding the meeting, it had hurt his feelings as a statehood agitator.

Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli, along with his supporters, stage a dharna in protest against the state government’s decision to hold a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain in Dehradun on Saturday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Panel for Raj Jat Yatra:The Uttarakhand Government on Saturday announced the setting up of a state-level monitoring committee for the Raj Jat Yatra scheduled to take place in September next year. The committee will be chaired by the Chief Secretary. The government has also decided to designate a PCS officer as mela officer of the yatra. The yatra would comprise more than 500 palanquins of local deities and cover 200 km in 20 days.

Winter session of Assembly:The winter session of the Uttarakhand Assembly will be held from December 5 to December 14. Several important Bills will be tabled during the session.

Deceased identified:The identity of a man whose torso was found in a forest near Sevla Kalan village two days ago has been established as that of Kailash, a resident of Gonda, Uttar Pradesh. He had been working as a security guard in a Dehradun showroom. The deceased was identified after his head and a hand was recovered. Kailash had been missing since October 28. The police said after killing him, the accused threw away his body parts at different places.

Boy held with charas:On a tip-off, the police has arrested a 14-year-old boy and seized one kg of charas from his possession. SP (STF) Kunwar Nirbhay Singh said the accused was a student of class X. He has been sent to the Child Protection Home.

jaspur
Stale sweets destroyed:Keeping Diwali in mind, the Jaspur SDM, accompanied by a team of the Food Safety Department, destroyed more than a quintal of contaminated and stale sweets seized from some shops near the town on Saturday. He instructed other shopkeepers to keep healthy ad clean sweets for sale during the festival.

Kausani
Conference on Assam:A three-day national conference on Assam being organised by the Gandhi Shanti Pratisthan, Delhi, began here on Saturday. Discussions on the topic, “Assam Aaj aur Kal” were held. Several leading Gandhian leaders are taking part in it.

Naintal
Qureshi for promoting golf:Governor Aziz Qureshi inaugurated the Governor’s Gold Golf Tournament at the Raj Bhavan Golf Course in Nainital on Saturday. He said golf tourism would be encouraged in the lake city as it would give boost to tourism in the state. The Governor said golf tournaments would be held in Nainital more frequently and it would attract tourists and golfers from around the world. “Players from Uttarakhand will get global exposure and so will the culture of our state,” he said.

Promote Kumaoni cinema:“If culture and regional cinema has to survive in the state, the MLAs and the MPs will have to spend at least 5 per cent of their Local Area Development Funds to promote these activities,” said Prem Matiyani, former director of Song and Drama Division, Government of India. He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Nainital Saradotsava Samiti to promote Kumaoni cinema on Saturday.

ranikhet
80 dengue patients:Of 286 patients checked for dengue in the state, 80 have tested positive. These patients are being treated at various government hospitals and they are said to be out of danger, said Dr CP Arya, Director General, Health. Arya, who was on a visit to a local hospital after dengue cases were reported from the area, said the density of the epidemic was less in the state compared to that in Uttar Pradesh.

ramnagar
Notices for littering:The Nagar Palika, Ramnagar, has issued notices to 40 shopkeepers, who have dumped garbage at common places. “As a report on the anti-litter campaign is to be sent to the Urban Development Directorate every month, we have sent notices to these shopkeepers and directed them to remove and dispose of waste material in three days from receiving notices. If they do not cooperate, the cases will be sent to court for further action,” said Manoj Das, Executive Officer, Nagar Palika.

(Contributed by BD Kasniyal)